New research finds omega 3s and vitamin D are vital for lupus patients

But what's really mysterious here is how in the world two natural, safe, and effective treatments for this autoimmune disease keep being left in the dust... while risky meds continue to sell like hotcakes.

One thing is very clear: If you or someone you love is suffering from lupus, the benefits of making sure your levels of these two nutrients are up to par is no mystery at all.

----------------------------------------------------------------------Reinventing the wheel----------------------------------------------------------------------

Two new studies have just confirmed what we've known all along -- that vitamin D and omega-3s can significantly help lupus patients.

One, from the University of Michigan, found that those with lupus who included plenty of omega-3 fatty acids in their diets slept better and scored lower on what's called a measure of lupus "disease activity."

The key seems to be concurrently upping those omega-3s while easing up on the omega-6 variety of fatty acids, but I'll get to more on that in a minute.

In the second study, doctors at Johns Hopkins looked at the data on close to 1,400 lupus patients and found that low levels of vitamin D could actually "predict" kidney failure. Not having enough D circulating in your blood, they concluded, can up the risk of severe kidney disease by nearly 70 percent in those with lupus!

Since direct sun exposure -- the best source of vitamin D -- aggravates lupus symptoms, low levels are practically a given among those with the disease. Close to 30 percent of the lupus patients in the Johns Hopkins study were found to be deficient in it.

Dr. Michelle Petri, the study author who just so happens to be the director of the Hopkins Lupus Center, was very clear in her recommendations: "Supplementary vitamin D is very safe" and can help safeguard your kidneys, preventing one of "the most dreaded complications" of the disease.

Getting sufficient levels of the sunshine vitamin, she added, can also help prevent blood clots, heart disease, and excessive protein in the urine.

And, as I said, this is far from the first time vitamin D and omega-3s have been found to be breakthrough treatments for lupus patients. In fact, eAlert readers have been hearing about their benefits for a decade or more!

Just last year, for example, we told you about a study out of Michigan State University that found DHA, a type of omega-3, was able to stop lupus in its tracks. That research was done in mice that were specially bred to be predisposed to the disease.

One of the researchers said that he had never seen such a "dramatic protective response."

So, why does it seem as if we're always having to reinvent the wheel where these kinds of valuable treatments are concerned?

Much of that has to do with responses like this from the Lupus Foundation of America: Dr. Stacy Ardoin, a member of the foundation's medical and scientific advisory council, said that these studies, while "encouraging," really don't prove much of anything.

She went on to say that she receives plenty of questions about what lupus patients should eat, but "It's an area where we have little evidence."

Seriously? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!

Could remarks such as those have anything to do with the fact that GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the horribly risky drug for lupus called Benlysta, is one of the foundation's top sponsors?

Whatever the reason, it's clear as day that these two nutrients are vital for those with lupus. They're also easy to add to your routine.

Vitamin D supplements, in fact, are about the least expensive ones out there. You can also up your levels by having more D-rich food such as eggs, wild salmon, mushrooms, and almond milk.

Wild salmon is a great source of omega-3s as well, along with sardines, walnuts, flax and chia seeds. This essential fatty acid is also widely available in supplement form (just be sure the one you buy contains high amounts of DHA and EPA).

As for omega-6 fatty acids, the ones those Michigan researchers said you should be consuming less of, they can be best avoided by eliminating "unhealthy" oils (such as corn, sunflower, and safflower) from your diet and replacing them with coconut or extra virgin olive oil.

We know how important your privacy is to you so we guarantee that we will NEVER sell your e-mail address. Please note you can remove yourself from our list at any time. We supply a link at the bottom of each e-mail to manage your subscription to the Guide to Good Health e-letter. We also provide you with a mailing address to contact us if you have any problems.

To manage your order by mail or for any other ordering issues, write us at:

When you place an online order with us, we collect your e-mail address, land address, and sometimes telephone number. This information may be used by NewMarket Health, LLC for service, editorial, and marketing purposes. We will sometimes share your information with third-party vendors who assist us with the preparation and mailing of our editorial and marketing communications, and with order fulfillment facilities. We will also occasionally provide your land address to carefully screened partners or third-party companies for the purpose of contacting you with news about relevant products or publications. We will never rent or sell your telephone or fax number or e-mail address to any third party.

We may automatically gather general statistical information about our website and visitors, such as IP addresses, browsers, pages viewed, number of visitors, goods and services purchased, transactions completed, etc. To do this, we use action tags and cookies provided by our site analytics. The cookie itself does not contain any of your personal information, so it does not jeopardize the privacy of your activities or the security of the transactions you place at our sites; We simply log this information in order to provide a more customized experience when visiting the site.

We have implemented Google Analytics features based on Display Advertising (Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting). You can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads using the Ads Settings. In addition, you can use the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on to disable tracking by Google Analytics. We will use the data provided by Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting to develop the site and content around our users’ interests.

We require that all e-mails promoting northstarnutritionals.com or its products are sent only to clients who have agreed to receive such messages. We prohibit any advertising of our brand and Web site using unsolicited email messages. Not complying with this policy will cause partnership termination and/or affiliate account termination. If you feel you’ve been sent unsolicited emails promoting our brand or website and would like to register a complaint, please email our abuse department. We will immediately investigate all allegations made related to unsolicited messages.

For any other questions or concerns, please call us at 800-913-2592 (outside of the US, call 443-353-4354), or fill out our customer service form.

List of cookies we collect

The table below lists the cookies we collect and what information they store.

COOKIE name

COOKIE Description

CART

The association with your shopping cart.

CATEGORY_INFO

Stores the category info on the page, that allows to display pages more quickly.

COMPARE

The items that you have in the Compare Products list.

CURRENCY

Your preferred currency

CUSTOMER

An encrypted version of your customer id with the store.

CUSTOMER_AUTH

An indicator if you are currently logged into the store.

CUSTOMER_INFO

An encrypted version of the customer group you belong to.

CUSTOMER_SEGMENT_IDS

Stores the Customer Segment ID

EXTERNAL_NO_CACHE

A flag, which indicates whether caching is disabled or not.

FRONTEND

You sesssion ID on the server.

GUEST-VIEW

Allows guests to edit their orders.

LAST_CATEGORY

The last category you visited.

LAST_PRODUCT

The most recent product you have viewed.

NEWMESSAGE

Indicates whether a new message has been received.

NO_CACHE

Indicates whether it is allowed to use cache.

PERSISTENT_SHOPPING_CART

A link to information about your cart and viewing history if you have asked the site.

Disclaimer: Individual results may vary. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Remember to read all labels, check all ingredients and follow all directions before using any products.